It’s been another day focused on local coronavirus restrictions in England. South Yorkshire will
face the toughest Covid rules from Saturday, with tier three measures for all four of the local authority areas – Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. Meanwhile, ministers have offered a £60m package to support businesses and employees in Greater Manchester, which is to move into tier three from Friday. And gyms and leisure centres will be able to reopen across Liverpool after the government bowed to pressure to bring it in line with other areas under tier three measures. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said large parts of England face “months of prolonged agony” with no route out of Covid restrictions and inadequate support, but PM Boris Johnson has insisted his regionalised approach to restrictions is working.
